This would be a major blow to the great city of Wheeling and would leave Pennsylvania as one of the only states who continue to play their championships at a high school track and field stadium. I wouldn’t think WVU & Marshall would win this bid right? HS kids dont want to play in college or NFL stadiums. They want to play in a smaller HS stadium because it is more full.
WV HS championships moving to WVU & Marshall?
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
If stud high school football players loved the experience of playing in empty NFL stadiums then one would think Pitt would be overflowing with talent don't ya think?
Isn't Marshall's stadium close to high school level? If the NFL stadiums in PA weren't on opposite sides of the state I can see your argument, the game should be centrally located and there's not many options around Harrisburg.
Penn State and if they wont do it. Bucknell. The game shouldn't be played at HS Track & Field stadium
Children even high school aged ones shouldn't be anywhere near the Penn State football facilities. High school kids aren't going to get excited about playing in some small private snooty colleges field, from google maps I can see that Bucknell's field has a track and looks to be slightly above high school level.
I agree with you on Penn State but no one else cares about that. The games should be played at a college. Pick a PSAC school then. And if you play at a HS, at least pick a football stadium and not a track stadium. There is no atmosphere in track stadiums
Bucknell holds about 12k and has a track around it, South Fayette and other schools have nicer press boxes then Bucknell.
One of the things that all the coaches and administrators are happy about CV is they no longer have to bus there kids around for practices/meetings leading up to the game. CV has multiple turf fields and they have all the space for team meetings/film etc on grounds.
Would I like to play at Bucknell, Lycoming, Loch Haven, Juniata, etc from time to time - sure. It would be cool change of scenery. But, CV has better accommodations then all of those places, including Hershey for a much lower cost.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I saw a lot of great football games with great atmosphere at Pitt Stadium....If it was centrally located, Franklin Field (with track) would be a fantastic venue for these games...Once again, you make no sense...
I dont know but my point is, if you absolutely have to play it at a HS, pick a football stadium, not a track stadium. If you have to play at a track stadium, play at a college.
what is a track stadium? Like where the Expos used to play? Me thinks you just got a bug up your azz about CV and just like to perpetually bring up idiotic stuff......the venue was convenient and worked out fine...120 yards in length and 53.3 yards in width...just like their field back at Hickory..
A track and field stadium is a stadium built and configured for track and field but since you can fit a football field inside, teams also use it for football but the site lines are bad because you are so far away. This is similar to cities building hockey arenas but putting a basketball floor in the middle to also host basketball games. They are hockey-first arenas with really bad basketball site lines in the corners and endzones.
Don't most high schools and small colleges have a track around the field, honestly can't remember being to one that doesn't.
Yes. Hersheypark Stadium does not but its also not technically a HS stadium. Just dont play in a HS T&F stadium. Choose a college one.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Can we have a list of Western PA high schools that have football stadiums without tracks around them?
It's a small FCS school in friggin Lewisburg aka the Confederate flag flying part of the state. If it's not going to be at either NFL stadium in the state or PedState then have it at the nicest facility regardless of level, that's centrally located, which apparently is where they have it now.
I do not know the logistics of it all, I am sure CV makes more sense, but as a fan, I wish it was still in Hershey. It was the "Drive to Hershey", how many times did the winner of the semi-finals have Hershey Kisses thrown at them in celebration of making it to States? As a fan that been to Hershey a few times and watched on PCN every other year I did not attend in person, it felt like a big deal. Watching the past 2 years at CV, it did not look as big of a deal. I am sure the kids don't care they just want to win, but the atmosphere seems less special. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way. Either way, the PIAA doesn't care what I think.
Lewisburg is a very nice mountain town. Not everyplace has to be a big city or a suburb of a big city. Being rural does not automatically make you a redneck/hick/hillbilly/bigot/racist you know. I swear some of yinz stereotype/label people and places all the time and think you are superior when you are just a jagoff.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Lewisburg's recent past ain't so rosy but you are correct. Some of us rural types are transplants.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
A lot of the mid-Mon Valley schools don't or didn't have track programs until recently. I bet Charleroi or Monessen would be down to host.
This is similar to cities building hockey arenas but putting a basketball floor in the middle to also host basketball games..aka almost every arena everywhere with NBA/NHL teams 25-30 years ago...
I still don't understand why it is a track an field stadium? It is a football stadium with a track. No one ever called Pitt stadium a "track and field" Stadium now did they?
In any case, Hersheypark Stadium has the equivalent of a track being there distance from the stands to the field .
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pittdan77
Athletic Director
Now, now. You know how there's that guy that wanders around town that you can't quite understand? He's harmless and you humor him from time to time. Sort of what's going on.
So is the PIAA. They took the wrestling championships off of PCN who did a great job covering the finals, and they gave it to Flowrestling. For those who are unfamiliar with Flo, they are an expensive pay service provider with limited content and horrible production. Yes they cover all rounds, but their actual finals coverage is worse than a HS produced show.
A small college really isn't that much better than CV. Having 7,000 empty seats in a 12,000 seat college stadium when you could have an 80% full HS stadium is better. However, playing in a pro or D1 college stadium is an incredible experience and while I'm not a fan of the school, Penn State is the ideal location, they obviously don't want to host it.
I agree about Hershey. While it may not be the nicest stadium, it was a destination and did have a cool deal with the Hershey's bars when teams win to head to the championship. Athletes and teams got excited for that.
Ambridge
Belle Vernon
Dormont
Greensburg Salem
North Hills
Valley
Most cities build hockey arenas, convertible for basketball. Yes. But not all. Brooklyn built a basketball arena, convertible to hockey. The Pacers built a bball arena. The Clippers are building a bball arena. The newer arenas you see are being built for basketball, not hockey.
Also, I dont care if no one called Pitt Stadium or the WPIAL stadiums a track and field stadium. That's exactly what they were. The stadium was designed and configured for track and field. So if the PIAA must play at a HS, at least find a football stadium instead of a track stadium.
I am old, but if you go back 25 years, I thought that Woodland Hills was the only one without a track at the time, although there could have been others. I could have sworn that KO (Dormont Stadium) had a track back when I played. I see that it doesn't anymore. I specifically remember North Hills having a track. I thought Connellsville did, too.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I think some of the schools ditched their cinder tracks because the newer tracks are metric and a bit bigger. Many chose to put them elsewhere on school property to avoid the stigma some people have about multiuse facilities.
North Hills doesn't have a track? Why are they playing the 5A and 6A Championships, which are almost always going to be played between northern Allegheny County schools at a Westmoreland County track and field stadium?
pittdan77
Athletic Director
Every school in the WPIAL plays basketball in a volleyball stadium. The championship games have been held in a volleyball stadium when they were played at Duquesne.
The opposite. HS gymnasiums are configured for basketball. The volleyball court is smaller and if they wanted to configure it for volleyball-only, they would have made it a little smaller.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
You do realize that Hersheypark Stadium was originally built as a 1/3 mile race car track so the bleachers are actually farther from the field than typical track stadium. You clearly have never been to a game there as it is very far from the field to the sidelines. Secondly the facility is very out dated and are nearly as nice as CV. Using google maps there is 282 ft between the two bleachers at CV. The distance between the two bleachers at Hershey is 315 ft.
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